The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Cordyline plant, botanically known as Cordyline terminalis, and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name Maroon Magic.
The new Cordyline is the result of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventors in Charmarajpet, Bangalore, India. The objective of the breeding program is to create new vigorous Cordyline cultivars with dense and bushy plant habit, unique leaf coloration, interesting leaf shapes, resistance to pathogens and pests common to Cordylines and tolerance to low temperatures.
The new Cordyline originated from a cross-pollination made by the Inventors on Jan. 12, 1995 of the Cordyline terminalis cultivar Mahatma, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with the Cordyline terminalis cultivar Mahadevi, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Cordyline was discovered and selected by the Inventors in 1995 as a single plant within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination in a controlled environment in Chamarajpet, Bangalore, India. The new Cordyline was selected on the basis of its plant habit, leaf shape and uniquely colored foliage.
Asexual propagation of the new cultivar by cuttings at Chamarajpet, Bangalore, India since July, 1996, has shown that the unique features of this new Cordyline plant are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations of asexual propagation.